Sepp Blatter: Leaving FIFA is liberating

Geneva: Sepp Blatter will not stand again for the FIFA presidency, he told a Swiss newspaper, but insisted he remained in charge of world football's governing body.

Sepp Blatter

In an interview with Waliser Bote, Blatter said: "I am not a candidate, but the elected president." Asked what he intended to do when he stands down as president, Blatter replied: "I haven't thought much about it for the time being."

He added: "My decision to leave was really a liberation, both for FIFA and for myself." The comments come a day after another Swiss newspaper, Blick, published an interview with Blatter in which he insisted he "did not resign" as FIFA president.